Cousin Walburga
by Kallanit
Summary: Drabble. AU. Just a piece of fluff for fun. Hermione discovers she has a magical heritage and confronts Walburga Black's portrait after being insulted by it yet again. Complete.


**Disclaimer:** Not mine, don't own it—I wish! Unfortunately, Harry Potter belongs to JKR; I'm just playing in her sandbox.

.o.O.o.

I was reading a Granger reunion story (The Family Reunion by Aquila Lestrange) whereby Hermione discovers after the war that her grandmother was Walburga Black's sister, but was disowned at the age of eleven for being a squib, when her Hogwarts letter didn't come, and was sent away by her family. In that story, Hermione tells her grandmother that she met Walburga's portrait, and I couldn't help but want to read a scene whereby Hermione takes her grandmother to Grimmauld Place to confront Walburga's portrait regarding Hermione's magical heritage. As that story seems to be on permanent hiatus, I've written my own variation of that scene, set in a different time (Christmas Holidays during 5th year) and with a different family background for Hermione, as I didn't want to appropriate the characters and family history created by Aquila Lestrange. Drabble. AU. Complete.

.o.O.o.

Hermione Granger stood in the hallway of 12 Grimmauld Place and stared at the portrait of its former mistress, waiting calmly until the portrait should stop shouting at her. Of course, this gathered the attention of all those who were currently inhabiting the house, and they all came running out to the hallway to try and close the curtains that normally covered and silenced the portrait.

"No!" Hermione placed her hand on Molly Weasley's arm to stop her reaching out to try and force the curtains shut. "Just wait," the younger witch said with an amused smirk on her face.

The gathered Weasleys, Harry Potter, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin all shared a look of bemusement, before Molly huffed and reached out again to close the curtains but, this time, Sirius was the one to stop her. Sirius looked quizzically at Hermione, one eyebrow raised to ask an unspoken question, but Hermione just smiled impishly at him and turned back to the portrait. Walburga Black had finally run out of steam and was staring disdainfully at the bushy-haired witch.

"What do you want, Mudblood?" the portrait sneered.

There was a collective hiss of disapproval, but Hermione flung up a hand to stop them all from reacting further. "Now, now," she said sweetly. "Is that really any way to address family?"

There was an explosion of sound, as not only did Walburga's portrait react to Hermione's surprising statement, but the other members of the household did so, too.

Again, Hermione waited patiently for the noise to die down. "Why yes," she said, still in that same sweet tone. "Family. Aren't you pleased to meet your long, lost family, Cousin Walburga?"

Sirius snorted in amusement at the sarcasm in Hermione's tone. Remus, the Weasley twins and Arthur Weasley, home at last from St Mungo's after having been bitten by Voldemort's snake, Nagini, all seemed similarly amused, while everyone else was, to be frank, open mouthed in bemusement.

"My parents have been researching my family history. We thought, given the current political situation, it might be better for me if I had a known magical heritage. Now, your Uncle Marius, who was blasted off the family tapestry for being a squib—well, he married in the Muggle world and had a son named Leo. A constellation name as per tradition—and such a beautifully Gryffindor name, don't you think?" Hermione could hear everyone laughing in the background but chose to ignore them and continued her lecture to Walburga. "Anyway, Leo and his wife then had a daughter who they named Norma. Another constellation name, keeping the tradition alive. Norma married a gentleman named Howard Granger, and they had one child, a daughter: me. Oh, and by the way, my paternal great-grandfather's surname was actually Dagworth-Granger, but my grandfather changed it to Granger. I did some investigating in the wizarding world and it seems that Dagworth-Granger is a wizarding name, so it would appear that I'm descended from magicals on both sides of the family. So I can't really be regarded as a Mudblood, can I? Especially not when I have the blood of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black in me."

Sirius, who was roaring with laughter, put his arms around Hermione and gave her a hug. "Welcome to the family, Cousin," he managed to choke out between howls of laughter.

Hermione turned away from the indignantly spluttering portrait, and walked into the kitchen with a smug smile on her face. The teenage girl knew, of course, that as her great-grandfather, Marius, had been disowned, Walburga Black would never regard her as family. However, after having been insulted by the portrait all summer, she was in no mind to suffer again during the Christmas holidays, and was delighted to have silenced the obnoxious woman, even if only temporarily. The wind had definitely been taken out of Walburga Black's sails, and long may it continue, Hermione thought happily.


End file.
